FLAS Fellowship (Academic Year)

Eligibility

The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship competition is open to undergraduate (including Barnard College) and graduate students who are US citizens, nationals, or permanent residents who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a full-time program (either at Columbia University or overseas) that combines modern foreign language training with international or area studies.

PhD candidates applying for FLAS dissertation writing or dissertation research abroad must be already at the advanced level of language proficiency. The use of the foreign language in dissertation research must be extensive enough to be able to consider the language improvement facilitated by the research equal to improvement that would be obtained from a full academic year's worth of formal classroom instruction. Please note that since the FLAS program is for language acquisition, use of the FLAS fellowship for dissertation writing or dissertation research is not encouraged by the US Department of Education.

All overseas programs of study must be at the intermediate or advanced level of language proficiency and must be approved by the United States Department of Education at least thirty (30) days prior to the start of the program.

Terms of the Award

FLAS awards are contingent upon funding from the US Department of Education. Awardees should demonstrate both merit and financial need; as such, all awardees will be requested at a later date to submit their 2018-19 FAFSA.

The FLAS Academic Year grant amounts are:

Graduate students: tuition grant is $18,000 and the stipend is $15,000

Undergraduate students: tuition grant is $10,000 and the stipend is $5,000

FLAS fellows are responsible for the on-time payment of the remaining tuition balance and fees.

All Academic Year FLAS awards are for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Languages

Eligible FLAS Languages are listed below along with the world area of concentration for which the language was approved, and eligible levels of proficiency.

Language Levels: Undergraduate and graduate students may only apply to study Intermediate or Advanced level of language proficiency. There is one exception for study at the Beginning level: Students who have achieved fluency or high advanced proficiency in one language may apply for study at the Beginning level to learn a second language in the same world area of concentration. If you are applying for this exception, please indicate this in your statement of purpose and describe how you obtained proficiency.

Undergraduates can apply for a Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL). LCTLs are any modern languages other than Spanish, French, or German.

Language

World Area of Concentration

Undergraduate Level of Proficiency

Graduate Level of Proficiency

Arabic

Middle East

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Armenian

Middle East

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Bengali

South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Chinese

East Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Haitian Creole

Latin America

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Hebrew

Middle East

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Hindi

South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Japanese

East Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Korean

East Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Mixtec

Latin America

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Nahuatl

Latin America

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Persian

Middle East, South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Portuguese

Latin America

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Punjabi

South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Quechua

Latin America

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Spanish

Latin America

Not available

Intermediate, Advanced

Tamil

South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Tibetan

East Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Turkish

Middle East

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Urdu

South Asia

Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

How to Apply

Deadlines vary based on the World Area of Concentration selected in the online application:

Middle East: February 12, 2018, 11:59 P.M.

East Asia: February 12, 2018, 11:59 P.M.

Latin America: February 12, 2018, 11:59 P.M.

South Asia: February 26, 2018, 11:59 P.M.

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered after the deadline. Please read the directions and information carefully for the online application. The applicant must upload all items electronically with the exception of the letters of recommendation, which are uploaded by the recommenders or mailed to GSAS.

If you are applying to more than one fellowship through this application portal, you will need to upload all items for each fellowship application, and recommenders will have to submit a separate letter for each fellowship application.

Statement of purpose: The one- or two-page statement of purpose should describe your academic purpose, the role of the proposed language, and how you intend to use the language. Describe how the language and area study will relate to your educational and career goals. Also indicate previous language experience, both formal and informal.

Two letters of recommendation: GSAS prefers that recommenders submit their letters of recommendation electronically to expedite processing. When the applicant enters the name and email of recommenders, the recommenders will automatically receive a letter with a link with the upload information. Applicants can resend a request by clicking on the "Send Reminder" button. A paper form is available for those recommenders who do not find it feasible to do an electronic submission. You must submit two letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors who can comment on your work in the target language and appropriate world area. It is the applicant's responsibility to make sure that recommenders are given ample time to submit recommendations by the deadline, and to notify recommenders if applying for more than one fellowship.

Academic transcripts: You must upload scanned copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

Below are some suggestions on how to upload a transcript:

Scan at the lowest DPI that results in a legible document (we recommend using 200 DPI or less whenever possible).

Ensure that the institution name and other identifying marks are not missed during the scanning process and that your scanned copy is clearly legible and can print on letter size paper (8 ½" x 11").

Include the transcript legend (found on the final page, in many cases).

Save your document as a PDF file.

Make certain that its size is less than 1 MB. Scanning in “grayscale” or black and white may produce the best results.

If the scanned file is too large, make a photocopy first (experiment with different settings until you find one that results in the smallest file size), then scan the photocopy.

You may upload an institutional web-based transcript/academic record.

The GSAS Fellowship application does not accept encrypted files for upload. If you receive an error message noting that your file is encrypted, please print your transcript, scan it, and then upload the scanned copy. Note: Official Columbia transcript PDFs are encrypted; you may order a paper copy through SSOL or print the official transcript PDF you receive from Parchment, then scan and upload it.

Recommended but not required:

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Letter of language evaluation: For applicants who are at the intermediate or advanced level of proficiency, but not enrolled in a language department, a letter of language evaluation from a language instructor attesting to proficiency in the language of application is recommended but not required. Evaluators must submit their letters electronically in the manner described above for letters of recommendation.

If you have questions that are not answered here, please check the FLAS FAQs on the GSAS website. If you require further information, please email gsas-finaid [at] columbia.edu.

Note: Columbia students travelling abroad to conduct research, enroll in foreign language or other courses, or attend conferences must register with International SOS, an emergency services program that helps with unexpected medical or security issues, prior to departure.